No second cyclone but heavy rains threaten Myanmar

BANGKOK (dpa) - Cyclone-devastated Myanmar may have missed a second cyclone this month but with meteorologists predicting torrential rains in the coming week, disaster relief experts are preparing for the 'worse possible scenario', sources said Thursday.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Centre in Hawaii on Tuesday issued a cyclone warning for a gathering storm in the Bay of Bengal, offshore from central Myanmar, but cancelled the warning on Wednesday, downgrading the likelihood of a cyclone to 'poor.'

"If a second cyclone, or very strong storm, does hit in the next couple of hours it's the worst possible scenario," said Joe Lowry, a representative of the International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), who had just arrived in Bangkok after six days in Myanmar.

Meteorologists cancelled a cyclone warning on a storm building offshore from Myanmar, but there are still predictions that the country, that was smashed by Cyclone Nargis on May 2 to 3, will experience 12 centimetres of rain over the next six days.

"It will displace more people, bring more water to an area that is already saturated and it won't run off quickly so there is the potential for serious outbreaks of disease," said Lowry, of the approaching storm.

Cyclone Nargis killed an estimated 100,000 to 130,000 people, and has left up to two million without food, water, shelter or medicine, according to United Nations estimates.

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